Chapter 7: Discovery
Dib paced restlessly back and forth in the center of his room, his eyes narrowed in deep thought, as they had been for the past hour or so. The room was completely dark, save for the dim, blue-white glow of his laptop's monitor, and the faint light provided through his window from the few outside fixtures of the street.
"Why hasn't he tried anything yet?" Dib questioned in a mumble, speaking his thoughts aloud as he was prone to doing. "He must be planning something big, to wait so long since his last stupid scheme. But what?" Dib paused when a shadow fell across his room, which somehow managed to further darken it, and then raised his eyes to see Gaz standing in the middle of his doorway in her pink footie pajamas, her shoulders visibly stiffening with suppressed fury.
"Your voice is keeping me awake, Dib," she growled irritably. "Why can't you just sleep like a normal person? We have skool in the morning, remember?"
Dib raised a clenched fist over his head in a pose of determination. "What do you think is more important, Gaz? Skool, or the safety of Earth?"
"Skool," Gaz replied tonelessly, without a moment of deliberation. "Go to sleep."
Dib faced his bed as Gaz shuffled back toward her own room. "Sleep…?" he repeated, as though the word was foreign to him. He frowned. Such an idea was completely out of the question, considering what Zim could be doing to destroy their world at that very moment. "But… Earth…" Dib crossed his room at a slow walk to approach the bed, and reluctantly sank onto the foot of it, still frowning thoughtfully. "Maybe Zim is taking a break," he whispered to himself, his voice low so that he would not disturb his sister, "but when he does do something, I'll be ready." With these words, Dib sprang to his feet with an expression of unyielding defiance. "Do you hear me, Zim? I'm ready!" he shouted into the night.
The only answer Dib received was the distant barking of dogs and Gaz's angry yell from the other room. "I told you to shut up, Dib!"
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Her initial feeling of euphoria beginning to fade, Tak found herself wondering for the first time what she had been thinking as Zim tugged her after him through the door of his base. She thought back to the minutes earlier when she had admitted her love to Zim. It seemed foolish to have blurted out such a thing after trying so hard to dissuade Zim from giving her his attention, but at the time, Tak had felt as though she would lose something pricelessly valuable if she allowed that moment to pass. Not one to typically make decisions on a whim, Tak wished fervently that she had discussed her feelings with Zim first, or even confronted them as an obstacle to their service to the Empire, something wrong that needed to be corrected.
Zim looked to Tak with the same adoring, yet proud grin he had given her while they were on his lawn, and Tak's doubtful thoughts instantly vanished. "Zim…" She hated how insufferably cocky he looked, and at the same time loved him for it. "Why are we here?" The single question seemed so simple, in contrast to the countless others she wanted to ask, but could not form into words.
Zim gave Tak a somewhat puzzled smile, facing her once they were a good distance into his house and taking both of her hands in his own. "You… wanted to be with me, yes?" Zim gazed hopefully into Tak's eyes, and Tak felt a twinge of guilt when she met his eyes in turn and saw the barely concealed unease in the magenta depths.
"Well, yes, of course," she replied hurriedly. "I just thought it would be better to stay outside. There are hardly any Humans at this hour, and it seems peaceful enough—"
"Ah! Yes! As you wish, Tak!" Zim so eagerly dragged Tak through his front door again that for a moment Tak wondered if she had unwittingly used her hypnosis on him.
"I'll give you a tour of my entire base later," Zim was happily chattering, "and then maybe I'll let you look upon my ingenious plans. Yes, I think I will!"
Tak walked faster to keep up with Zim's quick stride, smiling faintly at him as she forced herself not to say something mocking or sarcastic in reply. "How… generous of you," she managed.
"Isn't it?" Zim smirked arrogantly, prompting an incredulous stare from Tak, and then encircled an arm around her waist to pull her closer to him.
"And here we are!" he exclaimed within the minute, stopping abruptly beside a gate. "The park!"
By night, the park was tranquil and silent for the most part, its areas lit only by the gleam of the moon. An occasional breeze rustled through the leaves overhead as the two Irkens strolled past the gate. Zim seemed to be familiar with the leaf-strewn path, but Tak openly marveled at their surroundings, gazing up to the branches above them to see the beams of moonlight shining through the leaves.
"It's… nice," Tak stated, glancing to Zim and wondering where exactly their intended destination was among all of the trees.
"Nice? Hah! Don't be fooled. Places like this are near to impossible to find. Earth is dirty and worthless! All the more reason it needs to be conquered and made useful to the Empire." Zim paused when they reached a row of picnic tables and guided Tak to the first one, where he gently pulled her down to sit beside him, and then faced her.
"Anyway… The reason I brought you here, Tak, was I came here alone before, when I just wanted to think about you. GIR doesn't follow me here so it's quieter than inside my base." Zim grinned nervously when he noticed Tak's blank, unreadable stare in response to his words, and continued more hesitantly, "I was hoping you'd come with me now. Won't you… Tak…?"
Zim flinched when Tak suddenly laughed at him, lowering his antennae and feeling much less sure of himself. He began to speak again, fumbling for words, but Tak cut him off.
"Aren't I here already?" she asked as her laughter subsided, taking Zim's hand reassuringly. "Of course I'll come here with you again! It's nice… and I like being with you."
Zim's eyes lit up with renewed confidence when he realized that Tak did not find his request ridiculous as he expected she had. "Heh…! Of course you do!"
Tak released Zim's hands and reached to grip his shoulders, leaning forward until her lips met Zim's. She pulled closer to him as they kissed, and Zim did the same, wrapping his arms around her possessively, his mission and duties as an invader very far from his mind. All that mattered was the two of them were together, alone and uninterrupted. And so, until the early hours of the morning, the two Irkens remained where they were, talking and enjoying each other's company. The night's end seemed to come too soon. Tak was the first to notice the rays of the morning sun.
"We need to go now, Zim," she sighed, jumping to her feet. "Remember that ridiculous disguise of yours."
"It's not ridiculous," Zim argued, getting to his feet as well. He playfully flicked one of Tak's antennae, giving a start when she activated her disguise at the same moment, her appearance wavering and changing.
Laughing at Zim's surprised expression, Tak walked briskly ahead of him, and Zim hurried to catch up with her. Zim popped his lenses into his eyes as they walked the path, light green and orange in the morning light, and Tak assisted him in properly adjusting his wig, ignoring his loud insistence that he could do it himself.
"MIMI must be wondering where I am," Tak remarked as they reached the street. "I expect she will come to me during skool, if she leaves the weenie stand."
Zim nodded in agreement with Tak as he gazed at her, although he was too preoccupied in admiring her cleverly programmed holographic disguise to completely comprehend what she had said.
Tak gave Zim a sidelong glance when they were within sight of the skool. "It would be best for us not to let the Humans know anything has changed between us," she said. "Change, in this instance, would lead to questioning, which would lead to possible discovery."
Zim frowned dubiously, not at all willing to hide his love for Tak, even more so now that he knew Tak returned his feelings. "Yes," he nevertheless agreed with a dismissive shrug. "It is only during skool, anyway." He grinned toothily, and added, "If only then, it will be easy!"
Close behind them, Dib walked beside Gaz, dragging his feet. Though he had tried, he had been unable to sleep until the early hours of the morning.
Gaz spoke without looking at her brother. "You should have gone to sleep, like I told you."
Dib blinked sleepily, managing a small nod in reply. His lack of sleep had left him too tired to argue with her. He blinked again when he noticed Zim and Tak ahead. "Huh? Why would those two be standing together, without fighting?" he muttered, his voice slurred with fatigue.
Gaz walked ahead of Dib, giving no attention to his question, and sat on the steps of the skool to play her Gameslave before class began.
Dib proceeded toward Zim and Tak, who then took notice of him, and separated as though they had not been interacting in the first place. Raising an eyebrow, Dib looked to Zim as Tak walked inside the skool, ignoring his exhaustion for the time being. "Why were you with Tak just now, Zim? Is this part of your next plan to conquer Earth, using the help of your past enemy?"
Zim looked to Dib with obviously faked perplexion. "Eh? Tak?"
"Yes. Tak."
Zim scratched his head under his wig, feigning careful consideration. "Me, Zim? With Tak? I think you are mistaken, Dib-worm. I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"Yes, you do!" Impatiently, Dib turned to enter the skool to find Tak and interrogate her instead, but by that time the other students were flooding into the building as well, and he could not find her in the growing crowd. Sulking, his mood no more improved by his two hours or so of sleep, Dib entered Ms. Bitters' room with the rest of his class.
Before halfway through the skoolday, Zim was staring longingly at Tak across the classroom. Dib had noticed, and Tak was pretending not to notice. She lowered her head, narrowing her eyes in frustration, and whipped a piece of paper out of her desk to scrawl a note to Zim in Irken, reminding him of their agreement. She hurled the note at Zim, taking no pains to make sure it was unnoticed, and then slouched in her seat, folding her arms on her desk.
In moments, Zim tossed a reply back to her on the same paper, and she sniffed irritably before opening it and spreading out the paper on her desk. Her eyes widening as she read, Tak stared at the message and blushed deeply, abruptly crumpling the paper again and hastily stuffing it into her desk.
Dib watched Tak over his shoulder, and then glanced to Zim, who was looking ahead to the front of the classroom as though his mind was on nothing but the lesson, and grinning even more smugly than was usual for him. Dib turned his attention back to Tak to give her a questioning look, but she did not raise her eyes from her desk, still seeming to be making an effort to compose herself after reading whatever Zim's note had said. Determining that something strange was going on between them, Dib turned away, deciding that he would watch both of them to find an answer after they were dismissed for lunch.
Later in the cafeteria, Dib sat and waited, hardly remembering to eat his food. Several minutes into the lunchtime, he realized that neither Zim nor Tak had shown up in the cafeteria. He stood quickly, excusing himself to an uncaring Gaz, and rushed from the room. "There's definitely something going on if both of them aren't there," he said aloud, his eyes darting. "They must be together somewhere."
Dib passed through the skool at a quick walk, sick at the thought of the exchanging of crucial information between Zim and Tak that he could be missing. Dib had almost given up on finding them when he entered the playground, and heard their voices from not far away. Silently, he crept toward the corner of the wall of the building to better listen to their conversation.
"You have to make everything painfully obvious, don't you?" Tak was hissing furiously. "I request only one thing of you, and you can't handle it for more than an hour! Irk, Zim, how much is it to ask for you to just control yourself? We're going to be discovered before you know it, if you continue this way!"
"Of course not!" answered Zim's unmistakable, bold voice. "I was going to act like you weren't there, but… I changed my mind, yes! You should feel honored to receive my attention!"
There was an icy silence from Tak, and then Zim gingerly tried a new approach. "I can't help myself, Tak. I lose all reason at the sight of your beautiful face." Zim's tone was more pleading, and Dib glanced inquiringly toward the wall's corner, curious as to what they were saying. It did not sound like the invasion planning he had expected.
Tak snorted at Zim. "That's a foolish thing to say. Your excuse is the reason I need to be on my guard constantly now, to keep the Humans from suspecting anything. And, so they continue to remain unknowing, we should go back inside before anyone notices we're not there."
Dib chanced a peek around the corner of the building, and saw Zim's back to him a few feet away. In front of Zim stood Tak, who appeared to be just as angry with Zim as she sounded. Tak's attention was so focused on Zim that she did not notice Dib, even though he was directly behind Zim.
"Inside? To that room full of Humans and their disgusting… painful… lunch meat?!" Zim stared at Tak, expectant for her to change her mind, but she still frowned coldly back at him. Zim continued persuasively. "They won't miss us, Tak! We could stay out here until lunch is over, and then go back inside with everyone else."
Zim sighed when Tak exhibited no change in her deep vexation with him, and took her hands to pull her nearer, paying no mind to her fiery protests. Within a second, Zim had turned to back Tak against the wall, and was kissing her with a desperation he had withheld the whole day.
Dib gawked, hardly believing what he was seeing. Shakily, he clutched for the wall. "But they're enemies!" he thought, trying to determine how he had missed any of the signs that led up to the scene before him. "And… aliens! They want to kill each other! Don't they? What's going on here?"
Just then, Zim and Tak ended their kiss, and simultaneously saw that Dib had been watching them. Both of them stared at the Human boy for a long moment, round-eyed, and then hastily moved away from each other, their surprise at Dib's intrusion quickly turning to rage.
"If you tell anyone about this, I will destroy you, Dib!" Zim shouted, taking a menacing step in his direction.
At the same time, Tak leaped at Dib and grabbed his shoulders to stare into his eyes. "You saw nothing!" she ordered, her eyes narrowing and flashing blue.
Dib squinted and held up a hand to shield his eyes from the flash, pulling away from Tak before she could try another time. "Stop that!"
Her hypnosis failing to work on Dib just as it had in her first attempt inside the weenie stand, Tak backed away from him. She tried to come up with a solution to make it impossible for him to tell anyone of what he had seen, but could think of nothing that would work.
"You two… like each other?" Dib questioned, looking between Zim and Tak, who were slowly moving beside each other once again.
"You're not going to tell any other Humans about it, if you want to keep your big head in one enormous piece!" Zim snapped warningly. He stared unblinkingly at Dib, and then hesitantly asked, "Are you?"
"Why would I—?" Dib began, but then paused before he finished his question, understanding how important it was to the two Irkens that he kept his silence. He smirked at Zim, and then turned on his heel and started to walk back toward the doors of the skool. "Maybe not," he called over his shoulder. "I'll… consider it."
Dib chuckled as he returned in the direction of the cafeteria, imagining the expression of apprehension on Zim's face after he had heard his indecisive response.
"Well, Zim, it looks like I have the advantage," Dib said quietly. Grinning in triumph, he entered the cafeteria, heading back to his secluded table.
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